About the CFMS

The CFMS is an organization representing over 8,000 medical students from 15 Canadian medical student societies from coast to coast. We represent medical students to the public, to the federal government, and to national and international medical organizations.

PRESS RELEASE: CFMS Condolences on Death of Laval University Medical Student

November 18, 2022

The past few days have been an extremely difficult time for our community as we mourn the tragic death of one of our medical student colleagues from Laval University. The Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) wishes to offer its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of this fellow medical student. We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and know how much the members of the CFMS and FMEQ share our feelings.

During this difficult time we wish to support all students who feel overwhelmed and distressed. Medical school is a long and arduous journey. We strongly encourage you to seek help and talk about your feelings to someone you trust. We would like to take this opportunity to remind students that the CFMS Student Affairs portfolio, as well as your student affairs office and other resources/hotlines, are available to you, your friends, and classmates who may be struggling with this news. CFMS is also always available to help students find resources.

We want to emphasize that you are not alone and that we all experience ups and downs and together we can help each other along this journey. You are surrounded by friends and colleagues who care about you. We would like to honour the memory of our colleagues, who left us prematurely, by fighting for better support and concrete curricular changes from medical schools in Quebec and Canada. Your provincial medical association physician support programs, as well as the following resources, are available to help you via phone:

-Talk Suicide Canada: 1-833-456-4566 (24/7), or by text message at 45645.

-Tracom: 514-483-3033 (24/7 crisis line), professional services that are free, confidential, and bilingual.

Sincerely,
The Canadian Federation of Medical Students

Sara Abdessamie
Director of Student Affairs

Maya Alik
Quebec Regional Director